


How Nettles and Lynch Became Friends

by PontiusHermes



Series: Tales from a VA Hospital [2]
Category: The Predator (2018)
Genre: Cute, Developing Friendships, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Friendship, Gen, Hospitals, Male Friendship, Nettles is sweet, Short, Sweet, Veterans, card tricks, non-romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 02:22:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16232264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PontiusHermes/pseuds/PontiusHermes
Summary: Exactly what it says on the tin.





	How Nettles and Lynch Became Friends

'Lynch, why don't you have any friends? Don't you want friends? I'll be your friend.' As soon as he said the words aloud, Nettles felt he shouldn't have spoken. The words had been rattling around in his head for two weeks, since he'd joined Group 2, since he'd started recognising his group-mates at leisure on the ward. Lynch never seemed to talk to anyone, never seemed to sit with anyone. Even when there were other people at his table at meals he seemed to stare through them into the distance, idly shuffling his cards.

Lynch was staring at him with wide, slightly scared-looking eyes. Nettles couldn't tell if he was offended, or just surprised at being spoken to. His mouth quirked in a strange, lop-sided smile, as though the questions amused him. Lynch 'disappeared' a card, hoping to distract Nettles and thereby avoid having to answer. It worked; Nettles, a look of wonder on his face, tried vainly to discover where the card might have gone. Lynch smiled a little more and performed a few more tricks for his appreciative audience.

If the plan had been to rid himself of Nettles' company, it backfired. From that moment, Nettles made a habit of sitting with Lynch for every meal. He would beg to be shown more magic tricks, or try to draw Lynch into conversations with the other people at their table, or engage him in conversation himself. It wasn't as tiresome as Lynch would have suspected; he actually grew to enjoy the company. Another upside was that if Lynch was having a bad day and didn't feel like talking, Nettles had no problem sitting with him in silence. Sure, Nettles might have to be told to shut up, and have a card flicked at him, before he realised that's what Lynch wanted, but once he got it, Lynch had never known anyone as considerate or protective as Nettles.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> Pontius


End file.
